Fugitive Mexican Banker Sues to Retrieve Company : Finance: Carlos Cabal Peniche’s Union-Cremi was seized after he was implicated in loan fraud.

MEXICO CITY — Carlos Cabal Peniche, a fugitive Mexican banker, said he has filed several lawsuits against the Mexican government to challenge the seizure of his financial company Grupo Financiero Union-Cremi.

Cabal’s suits also seek to recover the control he once held over the fruit and vegetable producer Fresh Del Monte Produce, which is based in Coral Gables, Fla.

Cabal’s actions were announced in a full-page newspaper advertisement placed by two law firms on his behalf. In his ad, Cabal said the government could not go ahead with plans to sell the Union-Cremi company because of the pending lawsuits.

The ad lists 24 lawsuits Cabal has filed against the Mexican government.

Mexico’s Finance Ministry seized the Union-Cremi company on Sept. 5 after it uncovered what it called a fraudulent-loan scheme. Mexico’s attorney general issued arrest warrants for Cabal and other Union-Cremi officials in connection with the alleged fraud.

Since then, Cabal has disappeared. Last November, in another full-page newspaper advertisement, Cabal said that he was far from Mexico.

The cost of cleaning up the Union-Cremi mess was higher than the government first expected. When it seized Union-Cremi, it estimated Cabal’s fraudulent loans could amount to $700 million. Since then, it has had to cover $1.4 billion in losses found at the company’s two banking units.